eating, praying, loving...and oh, eating!

I saw the movie Eat, Pray, Love this past weekend with my mom, sister and grandma for my grandma's 85th birthday. 85 my grandma is. I just can't believe it. It was a great movie...perfect chick flick and I had a great time with 3 of the most important women in my life. :) I didn't read the book and I think I'm quite possibly the only person who hasn't, but I did enjoy the movie and amazingly, don't have any desire to read the book! The movie said it all for me...eating in Italy, praying in India and finding true love in Bali. If I ever need to find myself, I know where to go. ;) I never had a real desire to go to Italy. But after seeing this movie, I think that's changed. Knowing me, I'd probably gain 10 pounds by day 2.

This week I also indulged in a sushi lunch with my sister. I hadn't had sushi in way too long and it is one of my most favorite foods ever. Though it wasn't always. I remember being in Palo Alto, CA with my aunt back in 1995 and we walked past a restaurant that had a line out the door. I asked what the line was for, and my aunt, who has loved sushi forever, told me it was a sushi place and did I want to try it? Up until then, I wasn't very experimental when it came to food. I wasn't a big fan of seafood and the thought of it raw freaked me out for some reason. I told her no, but still looked longingly at the line. Finally, I got up the nerve to give sushi a shot in 1999 or so. My first experience was not exactly stellar. I think I left most of the food on my plate, which is unusual for me. My second, third, fourth tries were busts as well...I can't put my finger on the reason I wasn't crazy about sushi at first. I think it was a combination of the size of the pieces and the texture. I remember asking the waitress my first time if the sushi chef could cut the pieces smaller. She looked at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears. Guess that's a no. But there was also something about sushi that enticed me. I'm sure that was the flavors. I kept coming back for more until I was finally hooked. My favorite roll ever? It's called the Chicago Fire Roll and it's at the Sushi House locations in LaGrange and Westmont. It's raw tuna wrapped in seaweed and lightly batter fried then drizzled with this unbelieveable chili oil that I couldn't replicate if I tried. Just thinking about it makes me drool. Another favorite is a roll I had recently- the perfect rainbow roll. Spicy salmon with cucumber and avocado wrapped with assorted fish. Yum.

For all you sushi-doubters out there...try it!! It might take a few tries or it might take one (I'm still in awe of my friend Allison who conquered the spicy tuna roll and salmon sashimi her first time out!), but you will love it, I promise.

So anyway, Logan LOVES sushi- he tried it before he turned 2 and has loved it since. He loves picking up the roll, dipping it and stuffing everything in his mouth. He will also steal the raw fish from my rainbow roll. I swear, I have an easier time getting him to eat raw fish than I do chicken nuggets. Go figure. He also does a pretty good job manuevering his chopsticks, for a 3 year old. Meyer hasn't taken the sushi plunge yet, but I ordered him shrimp dumplings and he was able to spear little pieces with his chopsticks. Trust me, Auntie Laura is so proud. :)

All of this crazy eating has made me realize I've been eating way too much. And it's starting to show, at least to me. Thus starts round 1,390 of watching what I eat. Just goes to show running to eat doesn't always work. ;) So I registered for another race. I originally was going to run another half marathon, but I don't think I'm up for it. My longest runs lately have been only 7 miles and I just don't feel prepared. Fortunately, the half marathon has a 10K associated with it, so I'll be running that with a couple friends. And of course, we're already planning where to enjoy a yummy breakfast afterwards.